When last we met, Tenchi had just saved the planet and could
technically be declared a hero. Ryoko was free from her oppressor, Ayeka found
her fiancée, Mihoshi finished her job assignment, and Sasami turned into a beam
of light. All was well.
The question is, how do you follow that up?
There are several ways to follow up a beloved series once it
has reached its conclusion. You could create a new drama revolving around
existing plot threads and build upon them in new directions, take your main
characters and move them to a new setting and see how they will react, add a
new character and see the dynamics shift, shift the focus from one character to
another, rehash the first season, or do tight character driven stories that all
lead up to a big finale that deals with an overarching theme.
OVA 2…does some of that. Some of it is well done…a lot of it
is different.
The first OVA was a space opera in the vein of Star Wars, as you all know, and it
followed a series of character beats that had you care about the characters.
With the last episode finished, you want to know what kind of villain could top
Kagato. Could it be a bounty hunter like Boba Fett? Could it be a rival space
pirate? Perhaps a fiancée pledging himself to Ayeka or Sasami? Maybe Commander
Taur of the Lion Man asks Mihoshi to go on a brave mission.
I am sad to say it is with my deepest regret that the Star Wars references count will be
retired for the time being.
OVA 2 follows the “slice of life” formula, meaning that each
episode is just showing how Tenchi and the girls will react to a new day to day
situation. There are not many moments of a grand space opera in OVA 2 and the
bits that we see are a bit…lacking compared to Kagato.
You can’t top Kagato’s
Organ Recital.
The question I pose you is this: why is it so different and
how will the changes be addressed?
This all leads to something I alluded to in the previous
reviews: the relationship between Kajishima and Hayashi. The two men, and
Hasegawa, all created Tenchi together. However, Kajishima was unhappy with how
the first OVA turned out. He did not like the female personalities and had his
own opinion about how certain plotlines should progress. Both Hasegawa and
Hayashi apparently fought him on the issue and were cast aside. Hasegawa would
go on to write her own series of Tenchi novels, but I will get to that later.
This left Kajishima to complete the series on his own, free from all
restrictions.
And let me tell you, I’m fairly confident that the incest
was Kajishima’s idea.
One of our regular commenters, C_Sept, pointed out an
interview on this very subject with Hayashi that gives his side of the story:
“The Co-producer were
not satisfied what the 1st Tenchi OVA came out and declined that the
personalities of character (ie:animation acting and voice acting and such
thing) are completely different from his idea. When there were proposal of
produce 2nd Tenchi OVA, I thought if he was not satisfied our co-production,
it's better to let him to do it alone. So, I just hand the producer position to
him and wish him luck. There is no any negative meaning of my intension of
doing so. I just gave up, simple as that.”
The interview ALSO mentioned that Ryoko was based on I
Dream of Jeanie. Take that what you will.
Since he wanted to distance himself away from the old
material, Kajishima had this episode, “The Night Before the Carnival” created
as an extended Tenchi special which could focus as both Episode Seven and as a
bridge from OVA 1 to OVA 2.
How well did it turn out? Let’s dive in, shall we?
We open up to roughly the exact same scene we left on: Azaka
and Kamidake posing as lawn ornaments.
And getting crapped on
by birds.
Tenchi, still fresh from battle, is finally waking up from a
well-deserved nap. What does he see when he wakes up?
“Somehow I must find a
way to please thee, Master!”
You know…I really can see the Jeannie in Ryoko now.
“Thou hast set me
free. That means that I am free to please thee. And I am going to please thee
very much.”
Tenchi is startled to find Ryoko in his room and tells her
so:
“You?! How many times have I told you: don’t come into my
room like that!”
“You?!”? Did you really expect anyone else…well actually
Washu IS living with you now, so I suppose that is understandable.
We cut to Tenchi trying to go to the bathroom in peace
and…well see for yourself.
You see, Kajishima has gone on record that he was not a fan of the characterizations of the girls in OVA 1 as they were unrealistic. As in, there are no strong, powerful, independent women out there. So while Ryoko in OVA 1 did poke and prod at Tenchi in a loving way…here she is…well…
The great and proud space pirate Ryoko…reduced to clawing
away at a door like a cat.
It’s rather unfortunate.
As Tenchi is trying to get undressed in his room, he notices
a small ring on his finger.
Loaned from The Flash
of course.
After fiddling with it, he accidentally activates his outfit
from Episode Six, showing us how he managed to get it in the first place.
As Tenchi is trying to get himself back to normal, he
brushes a seed to the floor. He seems to know what it is, but we don’t.
Meanwhile, Ayeka has woken up and stumbles upon Ryoko still
clawing at the door.
I agree Ayeka. Also, this only lasts two seconds, but it is
an accurate summary of this episode:
The Verbal Sparring
count is going to be pretty high, isn’t it?
Tenchi walks outside and is happy to see Ayeka. He fills us
in on what that little seed is:
“Tsunami said it was for you. She said it was Ryu-Oh’s seed.”
I don’t recall that conversation. Must have happened off
screen.
As Tenchi and Ayeka talk, Ryoko goes from this face:
To this face:
This is going to be a long one folks. Bear with us; there
are some good parts coming up.
Ayeka knocks at Washu’s door, who has taken up residence in
a closet under the stairs.
Our plucky Princess opens the door to…wow.
That doesn’t seem logical. How did she create an entire
universe in a closet?
Subspace seems to be
the most logical option!
Shockwave?
Indeed.
Why do you care about Tenchi?
Ah. Well thanks buddy. Say, do you know anything about how
Juraians age?
…well?
It isn’t logical.
Thanks a lot Cyclops.
I am not Scott Summers. I am Shockwave.
Sure you are. Say, why is Ayeka in Washu’s lab anyway?
However, Washu refuses to hear anything unless…
Okay, this is one of those reoccurring jokes that makes more
sense in Japan than America. You see, Japan has honorifics that denote a
person’s status or title. In AstroBoyNerd’s page, he will always call Kajishima
Kajishima-Sensei, as he holds him in a higher regard given his profound love
for the entire OVA continuity. Sensei means teacher, which you probably know.
In the original Japanese dialogue, Washu asks to be called
Washu-Chan, meaning Young Washu. Chan is what little children are called and
Washu strongly identifies herself as a child. The meaning is still the same in
America, but it just makes her seem crazier than before.
This is rather in line for the character though.
“How can I call you little when you are over 20,000 years
old?”
Holy crap, we have yet ANOTHER age…and this makes Washu the
oldest in the house!
Ayeka asks Washu to build a place to allow Ryu-Oh to grow.
Washu gives her a flower pot, and Ayeka responds in an appropriate manner:
It turns out Kagato created a Juraian growth environment to
house Tsunami. According to Washu, Ryoko’s whole reason for attacking Jurai was
to claim Tsunami for Kagato. Now we know!
And knowing is half
the battle!
We cut back to Tenchi doing what he does best: farming!
Tenchi informs Ryo-Ohki that all of the carrots in the
fields are for her, but she will have to wait.
Let us move away from that crucial
*coughcoughpaddingcoughcough* scene and see…what the hell?
Panties? I…did I
mention Kajishima’s primarily line of work was hentai before co-creating
Tenchi?
No seriously, what the hell is the context for this manga?
Maybe OVA Nobuyuki IS a pervert after all!
It turns out Mihoshi and Sasami are reading Nobuyuki’s manga
collection….SASAMI?!
Ryoko, who is just as confused as I am, tries to snap Sasami
out of it.
Or is she imitating what
the men and women do in the comic?
I am going to Hell, aren’t I?
Sasami explains what these “comics for girls” are:
So by “Earth style” you mean without the incest…right?
Sasami gives Ryoko the comic…but rather weirdly. What is up
with Sasami’s body language?
She seems stiff and odd. The animation in this episode is not up to par, which is going to be a reoccurring issue with the remainder of this OVA. Unless...unless something is going on with Sasami internally...hmm...
She seems stiff and odd. The animation in this episode is not up to par, which is going to be a reoccurring issue with the remainder of this OVA. Unless...unless something is going on with Sasami internally...hmm...
We then cut to Washu’s seemingly limitless lab where she has
managed to bring Ryu-Oh’s core (I think) back to Earth. Aaaaaaaand, that scene
ends.
After that short segment, we see Sasami in the kitchen for
the first time. Yes, Sasami’s defining trait besides her heart is her cooking
skills.
Get it? Because none of the adults know how to cook! It’s a joke!
Get it? Because none of the adults know how to cook! It’s a joke!
Eh? Eh?
Anyway, Tenchi comes in and Sasami asks him to get Ayeka,
who is with Washu. Tenchi does not look happy about that.
“She’s at Washu’s? I really don’t wanna…”
Foreshadowing!
You see, the second Tenchi goes into the lab he is jumped by
one of Washu’s robots…which sounds exactly like R2-D2.
No really, it’s the
sound of R2-D2.
As Tenchi is getting wrapped up by R2, Ayeka is busy
planting Ryu-Oh in the unit. Wow, Kagato made a pretty nice looking place,
didn’t he?
Kagato: lover of
plants and trees.
Ryo-Ohki, however, thinks that Ryu-Oh is a carrot. Oh boy,
this is going to result in some WACKY COMEDY!
“THIS IS NOT A CARROT!”
Let’s see how Tenchi is doing.
Not so good.
Our resident mad scientist is checking every possible sample
in Tenchi’s body in order to get a better understanding about why Tenchi is the
only person able to summon Light Hawk Wings. Howerver…there is one sample Washu
still needs…
“I’m an angel of mercy Tenchi!”
What…what is she…
“I just need some sperm samples!”
“Strictly medical, right? HELLO!”
“You want me to stop it?”
Oh thank god. I thought we were about to…
“Nah, you don’t want me to stop it!”
"NAHHHHH!"
“Let’s shake the dew off this lily, shall we?”
Oh. My. God. We are about to experience a rape. This is
wrong. How is this played for laughs? Admittedly, Vogt’s delivery is hilarious,
but the situation is terrifying. Kajishima, is this what happens when you are
allowed to go in the “direction” you wanted?
Thankfully a savior emerges:
“Excuse me?”
Mihoshi! Thank you! You just saved this series from taking a
worse turn than the pre-established incest! This whole scene is the beginning
of logical pairing: Mihoshi’s ditzy nature and Washu’s genius. It is basically
Dexter and Dee Dee from Dexter’s
Laboratory. In fact, we even get to
see some Dexter style hijinks:
“What does this button
do?”
I do have to ask, how does internal Ryo-Ohkis and Ryokos
power a machine? Shockwave, got anything?
I’ve got nothing.
As all of these various shenanigans have been going on,
Sasami sits alone waiting for ANYONE to come and eat with her.
We then see that Ryoko is now behaving like a typical
Earthling: reading comics and getting drunk.
We now have come to our “plot” for this episode: Ryoko and
Ayeka each trying their luck to woo Tenchi’s heart.
Yes. That is the main plot for this episode.
Ryoko knocks into Tenchi and… we get a seizure inducing
moment to simulate her strike…but lo and behold we get a hidden frame!
TEST YOUR MIGHT!
I have never noticed that before, and neither have you. [sarcasm]I
have done the Tenchi Community a great service.[/sarcasm]
“I’m sorry, I wasn’t paying attention! I’m so clumsy!”
Ryoko pushes Tenchi away again and just when it seems Ryoko
may get her way…Mihoshi shows up.
The blonde detective tells Ryoko that she looks sick and
drags her away to get her cold medicine. While she does that, I get another
great confused Tenchi face!
Ayeka, confused as to what the hell is going on in this
episode, asks Sasami to clarify everything. She explains that Ryoko used
Nobuyuki’s manga collection for research, and boy, does he have a lot of it.
And we see…oh no, not Ayeka too!
This is Ayeka’s plan: to aid a fallen Tenchi and give him her handkerchief. Of course, this involves tripping Tenchi, who is again confused about all of this.
Oh look, a new
character!
“Hangers on, though you be friends, be more humble when
asking for seconds…one of my very best so far.”
It’s Katsuhito! This is great! Are we going to have a follow
up to Episode Five? Are we going to discuss the implications of Ayeka’s
feelings of betrayal?
When Ayeka and Ryoko realize that they have the exact same
idea (to use Azaka and Kamidake to spy on Tenchi…which makes no sense either),
they leave…annoyed. Tenchi is confused and I am depressed. This could have been
a great character moment that built upon the previously established continuity,
but no. It was just a sight gag.
As all of this is going on, Sasami is just thrilled that her
plan to sow chaos is working.
Damn you Sasami!
At this point, we see what Ayeka and Ryoko think the perfect
way to seduce Tenchi would be. For Ayeka, it is knitting a sweater or a shirt.
Tenchi wears only the latest Juraian fashion in Ayeka’s
dreams of course!
However, we cut back to reality and OH NO, SHE KNITTED WAY
TOO LONG!
DERP!
Ryoko’s fantasy, however, is actually funny. It’s just
Tenchi, with a mustache, giving her the highest verbal praise imaginable:
I love it. It reminds me of the Clerks cartoon where Randall
accidentally orders a Mail Order Husband.
Of course, Ryoko has no sense of taste (which we just
literally find out) and has Ryo-Ohki try her cooking. I WONDER WHAT WILL
HAPPEN?!
R.I.P. Ryo-Ohki.
We then get the oddest Petrea Burchard line delivery ever:
“It’s for love, for love, FOR LOVE!”
She does it in a sing song manner that is…just wrong. Oh,
and Ryoko’s dish starts foaming up to gigantic proportions.
DERP!
We then cut to Tenchi walking in the door and…oh no.
Both girls try to tell Tenchi about how they are the most compatible
with Tenchi based on some of Nobuyuki’s old horoscopes.
Is this where AstroBoyNerd’s website got the February
estimation for their timeline? We’ve already established that it is wrong.
Tenchi rains on their parade when he explains that they are ten years old…
“But this one here is hot off the press!”
Oh joy. Washu is here. And apparently SHE is the most compatible
with Tenchi!
However, we still have half of an episode left so Ryoko gets
another great idea: ask for Katsuhito’s permission to marry Tenchi.
Of course, Katsuhito then asks Mihoshi is SHE wants to marry
Tenchi!
If that was Ryoko’s attempt at the art of wooing Tenchi,
then I wonder what Ayeka’s tactic will be?
Oh boy. I wonder what is in that letter?
“'I am but a humble schoolgirl. There is something I would
like to discuss with you…I will wait for you after school?”
Tenchi is so done with this episode, I love it.
He is about to go tell Ayeka to knock her crap off, but is
sidetracked by Sasami, who asks that Tenchi get ingredients for her.
That include carrots.
Hmm….
Tenchi enters the shed and notices that all of the carrots
are missing. But Ryo-Ohki isn’t the culprit…
OVER A DOZEN RYO-OHKI’S ARE THE CULPRITS!
How…why…I…
It turns out that these are the crystals that inhabit
Ryo-Ohki’s spaceship form…which leads to the question how they are existing
outside of the core Ryo-Ohki body. Shockwave, got anything?
Good idea!
“Such naughty crystals!”
Of course not.
Meanwhile, Ayeka is still waiting for Tenchi, not having the
slightest understanding when “after school” is.
“Nobody knows the
trouble I’ve seen, nobody knows but Jesus!”
Hmmm…if I were Kajishima, how would I follow that up?
More naked women…fun!
Ryoko and Ayeka, you see, are tired of bringing up the
Verbal Sparring count and decide that maybe it’s time to focus their attention
elsewhere.
What’s this? Do I detect…a plot forming?!
Yes, the girls are joining forces to get rid of the
competition. Of course, Ryoko and Ayeka are both selfish and will do what they
can to keep Tenchi for themselves. Ryoko, interestingly, has her own ideas of
what their relationship will entail.
One thing that I notice about Kajishima’s depiction of Ryoko
is that he likes to play up Ryoko’s artificially created background and makes
her as inhuman like as possible. She can sober up immediately because of her control
over her own immune system, she has no sense of taste, and calls herself “humanoid.”
Admittedly, this can be interpreted as her being an alien, but this also gets
played up a lot in Okuda’s manga as well.
Ryoko decides to take on Mihoshi first so she does the
sensible thing: she calls Mihoshi using Katsuhito’s phone pretending to be her
supervisor…which I guess is Commander Taur the Lion Man’s man servant.
Speaking of bits, I love how Katsuhito picks up his desk and
brings it toward the phone so he can listen in.
Kajishima loves the funny Katsuhito a lot. Wait until Episode Nine.
Anyway, Mihoshi actually has the smallest amount of sense to
question how the man servant got a hold of her on Earth. This is Ryoko’s
response:
“Eh, not an important detail.”
Ryoko tells Mihoshi to return to the Galaxy Police
Headquarters to make her report about Kagato. After saluting the “man servant,”
Mihoshi realizes she has a problem.
“Hmm…what do I do? I need a spaceship…what do I do?”
Ayeka, clever girl that she is, is waiting right there to
give Mihoshi her advice: talk to Washu!
We then cut to a continuity error!
“Your shuttle fell into subspace around here, right?”
“Police ships are rare in this area, so it should be easy to
locate.”
Okay, I’ll bite. I suppose given the close enough proximity
to the Parker residence Washu could theoretically find it. Also, I am fairly
confident this is the first time we see Washu create her own subspace computer
system outside of her lab.
Washu manages to bring the spaceship through…but the girls
suddenly are nervous!
Ladies and gentlemen,
The Jesus is back.
This is amazing. This can lead to actual conflict. Perhaps
there are other demons that exist in subspace, or The Jesus escapes into the
mountains and it is up to the girls to stop him. Maybe that could lead to an
Earthling discovering them and trying to expose their existence to the world!
Maybe…
“You don’t fuck with
The Washu.”
You said it Ayeka. Not
only was it simple, but it was anti-climactic and rather a let-down. There was
potential for the series to use that seemingly random plot point, but no. The
only other time this ever comes up is in the Okuda Manga.
Mihoshi, now with her spaceship back from the dead, is
forced to go back home. You can only imagine how strong of an act she is
putting up for the household…
Actually, she’s taking
it better than I expected. Also, she’s wearing lipstick?
Tenchi, being the paragon of compassion that he is, offers
to let Mihoshi come back when she is finished with their work…which pisses off
Ayeka and Ryoko, who didn’t take Tenchi’s kind nature into consideration.
“Bye bye now! Don’t come back for a long time!”
With Mihoshi gone and Washu uninterested, Ryoko and Ayeka
finally have the ability to duke it out like respectable women.
Or, you know, Ryoko gets the upper hand immediately.
Ryoko leaves to collect her spoils, Ayeka inches away, and
we cut into space to see Yukinojo alive and active since Episode Four.
As Yukinojo tries to connect to the Galaxy Police
Headquarters, Mihoshi is too busy thinking about Tenchi’s offer to come back
and stay. She is on cloud nine.
After snapping Mihoshi out of it, Yukinojo finally gets his
desired password…and it’s weird.
You are joking, right? The Galaxy Police is based around
Mother Goose nursery rhymes? How does that even work? Are we suggesting that
Mother Goose originated on the Planet Jurai and Yosho brought them over or
something?
Even Mihoshi seems amazed at how stupid it is. But it doesn’t
matter. She submitted her report and wants to go back. However, Yukinojo will
have none of that.
And wouldn’t you know it…
The man servant! He’s back too!
Weren’t you trying to kill her before?
However, Mihoshi has other plans that do not involve going
back to Headquarters.
“I, First Class Detective Mihoshi, wish a reassignment to
patrol the special area of the Solar System!”
The man servant is not taking it well.
It takes Mihoshi a few seconds to come up with any coherent
words…that are barely coherent at all.
It is at this point that the two most logical people decide
to talk it out:
The man servant has picked up on some key references to
Prince Yosho and attempts to get Mihoshi to explain it in better details, but
Mihoshi promptly cuts him off and tells Yukinojo to head back to Earth post haste.
Poor Yukinojo.
Oh, we actually cut back to the man servant and we see what Mihoshi’s report looks like.
But enough scenes set in space, because who gives a damn
about space? No, we are here for romance! Ryoko, how are you doing?
Guest animated by Quinten
Tarantino!
“Tenchi! Tonight I can finally…hahaha Tenchi, are you awake?”
Ryoko, you need something called consent. Otherwise, you are
just as bad as your mother.
“Uh, what’s up? It’s really late at night!”
Well, even though the creative team changed, one thing sure
didn’t: Ryoko’s random ass powers. Couldn’t that power have come in handy
during the fight with Kagato? But no, she uses her powers to pretend to be
Tenchi…which is disturbing.
After pepping herself up, Ryoko goes to open Tenchi’s door
but hold on! What’s this? Is that an Azaka and Kamidake baby?
“Making your dreams
come true!”
An orgasm joke in Tenchi Muyo! We have come so far from the masochist
lines in Episode Two (which, if you looked at the Japanese dialogue, was also an orgasm joke apparently)!
However, that was not just a visual representation of what Ryoko desired, it actually happened…just not in the way Ryoko hoped. Instead, Ryoko got teleported into the lake!
“I’m glad I had that force field set up! Mannerless person,
trying to get into his room without even knocking!”
I’m glad you had that foresight Ayeka. It makes for such
compelling and complicated humor.
After a good minute of verbal fighting, Ryoko just shrugs
and tells Ayeka that she can go first.
“What…what do you mean ‘go first?’”
Are…are they…why are there so many rape jokes in this
episode? Is Kajishima TRYING to make his characters unlikeable?
Ryoko is not buying that for a second.
“'My mind and body are pure! Make love to me!' That’s the
message you are trying to get across!”
Ayeka, you got Daffy Ducked.
She is not going to back down and now we get to the rematch
we all have been waiting for!
ARE YOU READY? FIGHT!
And we get literally one second of them grappling before a hard cut to black. What?!
“Ryo-Ohki? Where did everyone go?”
“Tenchi?”
“Ahhhhhh!”
“Tenchi…it’s you! I’m hurt!”
“Tenchi, watch out!”
“Tenchi, don’t take him away!”
“No! Don’t take him away!”
“What the hell was that?”
Would you believe that Sasami just got her period? Because
this whole thing is not only supposed to foreshadow OVA 2, but also a visual
representation of Sasami getting her period.
Why is this important? I have no freaking idea. I…I just…this
episode…
GAH!
As Sasami checks her bed, Ryoko and Ayeka continue to fight.
They fail to notice Sasami walking and crying right by them. Suddenly a knock is heard.
“What’s wrong Sasami?!”
That last line? That was spoken by Washu. Do you get it yet?
They are reusing the joke from the last episode where everyone BUT Ryoko said
hello to Tenchi first! Even Ryo-Ohki! Tenchi is not happy with Ryoko and Ayeka
at all.
I wonder what will happen next?
DERP!
“I wonder what that was out there?”
“Two wet fools who forgot to knock!”
We even get to see this slumber party in action!
As for Ryoko and Ayeka? They have finally given up this episode. But is it too little too late?
" Nants ingonyama bagithi Baba!"
What you just witnessed though screencaps is Mihoshi’s
return to Earth. And she took the house with her!
Poor Nobuyuki. His house is destroyed.
The only thing standing is the door to Washu’s lab, where everybody is now sleeping, except Katsuhito and Nobuyuki, because nobody cares about them.
Our episode ends with Ryo-Ohki talking to Ryu-Oh and Ayeka happy to see her spaceship coming back to life.
THE END!
Took long enough.
Review
That was so long.
I don’t just mean the episode, I mean this review. During
the time between reviews, I found out I’m going to be a father and every time I
tried to sit down and do this, I just couldn’t. It was hard to find stuff in it
to hold on to. It seemed like the entire episode was filler.
And yet, I don’t hate it. I just like it less than OVA 1.
You see, I need to review these various series in a fair
way. OVA 1 had a single, consistent narrative it followed: Tenchi needs to
control the sword and figure out the mystery of Yosho. By this point, Tenchi
did both of these things. The storylines concluded in a logical way and it was
up to the creative team to either build upon the pre-established themes and
storylines or progress the story in a bold new direction.
Kajishima attempts to do the “slice of life” style, but it
doesn’t really work as it does not tell us new things about the characters.
This is later rectified in other “slice of life” episodes following this, but
this was supposed to be a Tenchi Muyo!
special! Why didn’t it try to do anything new?
That is the biggest failing of this episode. There are so
many plotlines that the show COULD have used just by the material in this
episode. Instead, the entire episode is just one giant joke. This would be fine
if the material was good, but how many rape jokes were used in this episode?
Rape is not, and will NEVER be funny.
Another issue is that half of this episode made no sense. In
fact, I haven’t checked up on Shockwave in some time. You okay buddy?
See? Even our Decepticon running joke is having issues with
these things. I know I used the Mystery Science Theater 3000 mantra in EpisodeTwo, but I’m allowed to nitpick.
It is my blog after all.
I am all for the quiet, character moments to come out. But
half of this show reduced Ryoko’s
character to a joke. It DIMINISHES her character by making her so…much less than she could have been. I am not saying it is bad for Ryoko to love Tenchi, but she is so over the top.
character to a joke. It DIMINISHES her character by making her so…much less than she could have been. I am not saying it is bad for Ryoko to love Tenchi, but she is so over the top.
The same can be said for Ayeka. Now that she knows where her
brother is, she has nothing left for her to do. How does she react to
everything? Why by fighting with Ryoko and vying for Tenchi’s affection. That
is it. Oh, and I suppose wanting Ryu-Oh to come back to life too.
What I’m trying to say is that this kind of drama does not
make for likeable characters. You know who the most likeable character in this
episode is? Mihoshi.
Mihoshi has an actual storyline. She is torn between her
duty and her desire to stay with Tenchi. Thankfully, she uses her smarts (an
amazing sentence, I know) to find a way to make both of those things a reality,
even if she was manipulated by Ayeka and Ryoko. We are genuinely happy to see
her return to the house.
Washu isn’t given much to do this episode again except to
act all “sciency” and Sasami…well she was used only as a prankster like in
Episode Two and as a plot device to set up stuff that will happen in Episode
Eleven.
Oh and to have her period, because why the hell not?
Overall, this episode is a disappointment, not because of
the content but because of the potential “what ifs” could have happened if
Kajishima and Hayashi had stayed on together.
Thankfully for us, Tenchi
lived on after this episode. I hope our next installment provides us with
something worthwhile.
Animation: This
is the worst animated episode yet. This is most noticeable with The Jesus. The
original episode shows a much more fluid creature. This one is rather stiff and
flat. I was not happy with it: 12/20
Main Characters:
Tenchi, despite being a prop in this episode, is actually likeable. He is rather confused by Ayeka and
Ryoko and makes it known. Repeatedly. I love it. Ayeka and Ryoko…less so. They
were a bit too much: 13/20
Supporting Characters:
Points for Mihoshi and Katsuhito; but points get taken away for Washu’s nurse
scene, no matter how memorable it was: 14/20
Music: It was
okay. Not as memorable as other episodes, but still up to Tenchi standards:
16/20
Story: What story?: 9/20
Overall Tenchi Rating: 64!
Ayeka and Ryoko
Verbal Sparring: God, at least 15. It is hard to keep count.
Next time join me as we…a baby? Oh no. I…I think I need
something to balance out this episode. Something more up my alley.
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